The Mystic Void
by Hoplite39
Summary: Fleeing for his life, Spike travels to post Apocalyptic Seattle hoping to hide himself in the Mystic Void; a place where, unlike a Hell Mouth, mystical energy is at its weakest. But instead of finding easy pickings among the vulnerable human population, Spike finds himself confronted by a new threat: The Transgenics. (Post S5. Buffy is dead). Includes vamp killings and sirings.
1. Hunter Hunted

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THE BUFFYVERSE OR IN THE DARK ANGEL UNIVERSE. THIS IS JUST FOR FUN.**

**Author's Note: This using a fanfic that I originally posted on another site in 2007. So I thought I would post it here to join my collection.**

**The story takes place after Buffy's death in S5. It assumes that S6 and S7 do not occur.**

**For Dark Angel fans, the first three chapters will mainly involve Spike. But Dark Angel characters will feature heavily from chapter 4 onwards.**

**Rating is M for some vampire killings and sirings. There is also some humour with sexual references.**

**This story is complete. I will drip-feed in the chapters over a few weeks. How fast I update may be influenced in part by the interest that is shown.**

CHAPTER 1 - HUNTER HUNTED

The young woman desperately fled through the small wood in the cold dark starless night. She stumbled in the undergrowth and looked back, terror and panic etched on her pretty face. She scrambled to her feet and kept running. She saw the run-down barn and ran towards it.

She fiddled with the lock, desperately trying to enter the barn. She could feel the presence of her pursuer behind her. She had to get in. Eventually, the door gave way and she fell into the dark damp barn. She desperately turned round and locked the door.

She looked up and saw a number of shapes surround her, each one with a monstrous fanged face. She knew they could sense her fear and desperation. She knew she would die horribly tonight.

But it wasn't the vampires in the barn she was afraid off. They were her kin, her band of brothers and sisters.

"What is it, Carla?" Growled one of the male vampires.

She's found us." The girl stuttered in fear, changing into her vamp face. "She's coming to kill us all."

"Who has found us?" Growled another female vampire.

"Willow! The girl gasped. "The witch!"

"Shit!" Exclaimed the male vampire. The others vampires looked at each other, fear contorting their monstrous faces.

"Where is Spike?" Asked the Carla. Looking around for their leader and sire."

"He has gone." Replied the male vampire. "He left some time ago."

"He has deserted us!" Wailed the Carla.

Suddenly, the doors of the barn exploded in a hail of timber and splinters. The sharp pieces of wood blew in, skewering the vampires like shards of glass. One male vampire screeched as a splinter penetrated his heart and converted him into a billowing cloud of dust. The others were thrown to the floor in the blast.

A slim woman wearing long straight red hair and a fiery red dress drifted into the barn, her inky black eyes strangely glowing in the darkness.

The vampires desperately tried to get up. The red headed women lifted a finger and one by one the vampires around her exploded into a bright ball of dust.

Carla looked at the slaughter of fellow vampires, incredulous that so powerful creatures could be slain so easily. She sat frozen on the floor awaiting her fate.

But the witch did not dust her like the others. Instead, Willow hovered over to her slowly, her long red hair flowing in a supernatural breeze. Carla scrambled back in desperation.

"Where is Spike?" Demanded Willow, her inky black eyes swirling with rage.

"I don't know." Whimpered Carla, wide eyed in terror.

Willow reached out to her with one hand and a bright light enveloped Carla's vamp body. Specs of dust started to slowly dribble away from her fingers and face. Carla cried out in pain as her vamp body slowly began to disintegrate away.

"Where is Spike?" Growled Willow again, this time more sternly.

"I don't know!" Screamed Carla in pain.

"Tell me where Spike is and I will make the pain stop." Said Willow, almost tenderly this time.

"I don't know." Cried out the girl, her vamp eyes melting into dust. She screamed again as the spell continued to eat away, bit by bit, at her vampire soul.

For Carla, it would a long slow agonising night.


	2. Welcome to the Mystic Void

CHAPTER 2 - WELCOME TO THE MYSTIC VOID

"There's a car approaching the gate, sir". Crackled the voice in the radio.

Sergeant Jeff Higgins sighed and lay the newspaper on the table in the guard house. It was one o'Clock in the morning and well past curfew. He had been expecting an easy shift tonight and was in no mood to deal with trivialities. He grabbed the radio on the table.

"Can you not deal with it yourselves, Davis?."

There was a short hesitation from the other end.

"I think you should come and see this, sir. The windows appear to be blacked out. It doesn't look right."

Reluctantly, Higgins stood up, put on his combat helmet and picked up his rifle. Sighing again, he walked outside into the dimly lit street. Shiverering in the cool November air, he joined the other two sector cops standing by the barrier of the road block in front of the high gate marking the entrance into the inner-city area of Seattle. Like Higgins, both his men were dressed in black police fatigues. All three cops were armed with automatic rifles.

A dark coloured car was slowly approaching them. The windows were indeed blacked out. Higgins frowned. This was indeed suspicious.

"Have your weapons ready. Davis, halt the car!"

Davis stepped in front of the car. Bathed in the light of the shining headlamps, he held out one hand.

The car came obediently to a halt. Higgins knocked on the window. There was no answer. He raised his rifle and stepped back. Davis and the third officer, Jennings, also covered the car with their rifles.

"Whoever is in there, we have you covered. Come out slowly with your hands up!" Shouted Higgins firmly.

The door opened and a medium height man in his twenties with short spiky blond hair climbed out. He was wearing a black leather jacket and black Doc Martin boots. Higgins' first thought was that these would suit his teenage son very well. He began to hope that the civilian did not have correct ID. Some convenient confiscation may be in order.

The blond man leaned back against the car and casually lit a cigarette. He looked at the silhouettes of the run down buildings and makeshift houses on the other side of the nearby ten foot fence which marked the border of the inner-city.

"So this is Seattle. What a dump!" Speaking with an English accent, he grinned taking a drag from his fag. "Just my sort of place."

All three cops aimed their rifles at him nervously.

"Show us some ID. But slowly." Demanded Higgins.

The blond man took another drag from his cigarette and threw it to the ground before grinding the butt into the dirt with his boot. Then he spread his arms out and smiled.

"Don't have any, mate."

"OK. Hands against the car." He nodded to Jennings and Davis. They rushed forward, grabbed the man and pushed him harshly face down against the car. Higgins shouldered his rifles and began to search him roughly.

"Hoy. What where you're putting your hands, woofter." Said the man flinching. Davis struck him on the back with the butt of his rifle.

"Bloody, hell!". Gasped the man, staggering to his knees under the blow. Higgins pulled a wallet from the man's jacket.

"No ID." Said Higgins. He pulled out a wad of dollar notes and the packet of cigarettes. "I think we'll have to confiscate these. Could be stolen." His two colleagues laughed. Higgins pulled the man's hands behind his back and snapped a pair of hand-cuffs on them.

"OK, smart guy. You're in big trouble." He grabbed the man by his jacket and pushed him into the guard house. "You two search the car and check to see if it's stolen."

Inside the guard house, Higgins pushed the man roughly into the one of the chairs. He removed his helmet and sat in the chair opposite. He took out a note book.

"Name?"

"William." Replied the man leaned back casually in the chair

"Second name?"

"Spike." The man smiled at him

"William Spike." Said Higgins doubtfully. The name seemed unusual to him. Must be an English name.

"Age?" Asked Higgins, continuing his questioning.

"I don't really keep count. But I would say about one hundred and forty."

Higgins sighed. Clearly he had a real wide ass on his hands. He stood up and moved beside the man who grinned up at him.

"They say I look young for my age. Any chance of a fag?"

Higgins had no patience for this. He struck the man on the face with the back of his hand. The man's head was thrown to one side by the harsh blow.

"OK, wise guy. What's your real name?" He put his hand on his police baton threateningly. The blond man smirked. He obviously did not take any of this seriously. Higgins would just have to teach him a lesson in respect. Higgins withdrew and extended his baton, patting it menacingly on his left hand. "You better start to co-operate or you may find yourself resisting arrest. If you know what I mean."

To Higgins' shock, the man snapped the hand cuffs apart as if they were dry twigs and stood up.

"Actually, William is my real name." Said the man stepping towards him casually.

Surprised, Higgins took a step back. Before he could react further, his eyes widened as the man's face suddenly transformed. The man's eyes turned yellow and his pupils flattened into horizontal slits similar to a cat's eyes. His face lengthened into a grotesque mask as his forehead expanded outwards to form two solid bumps protruding from his skull. But, worst of all, his teeth extended and sharpened to form a row of pointed teeth and a pair of long sharp fangs.

Higgins stood frozen to the spot staring at the grotesque face in front of him. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He just stood there quivering.

Spike grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his feet.

"My mother called me William. But my fans call me Spike."

Higgins started to choke and his limbs waved around like a rag doll.

"But you'll not have the pleasure of getting to know me." Spike brought Higgins face right up to his own. "But one of your keystone colleagues will." Then with a growl, Spike pulled Higgin's head to one side with one hand and sank his fangs into Higgin's throat.

Paralysed with shock, the cop hung there limply as Spike ripped deep into his throat and felt the delicious blood pour into his mouth and down into his gut. As Higgin's living blood pulsed through his veins, the vampire felt stronger and stronger as the cop's life force rushed into him.

But this had to be a quick kill. No time to enjoy the agony and the suffering this time. It only took a few seconds for the cop's heart to stop. Spike let the body drop as soon as his victim was dead. He had only fed on only a fraction of the cop's living blood. That was the consequence of sucking the blood in too quickly. He looked at the corpse. This one was not for siring, just a straight kill. Still that was fun enough. From outside someone was approaching the guardhouse. Spike smiled. Course number two was just on schedule. And boy did he need a good feed. It had been a long journey and he hadn't properly eaten for hours.

* * *

Meanwhile, officers Davis and Jennings had searched the car. What they found was worrying. In the trunk they discovered the fresh corpse of a pretty blond female in her teens, dressed in jeans and a red top. She was lying beside a mini refrigerator full with bags of blood.

"Look's like we've got a whacko on our hands. You'd better inform the captain." Said Davis nervously. "I'll wait here."

Jennings walked to the guard house. Davis took hold of his radio microphone attached to his helmet and made contact with the Sector Police HQ. He read out the number plate and a female police women on the other end confirmed the car was stolen.

His back was to the car, so at first he did not see the supposedly dead girl sit up from the open trunk.

"Send us back-up as soon as you can." He said as he turned round to see the young dead woman climb sluggishly from the trunk. He stopped and stared as she advanced towards. She growled at him in a deep savage voice. A voice that did not sound feminine, nor even remotely human. He let go of the microphone and stepped back in fear. He could no longer hear the voice of the police woman at the other end.

"Officer Davis. Are you still there? Can you hear me?"

He was sure girl had been dead. He had checked her pulse. But now she stood in front of him, her face deformed and two razor sharp fangs glinting in the street lights. She hadn't look like this just a moment ago. Before she seemed almost fresh and beautiful. Now she looked like a monster from hell.

Panicking with fear, Davis ran to the guard house. The female launched herself in pursuit. He reached the door and entered. He turned and managed to close it just as the female's hand clawed in the doorway. Davis slammed the door shut on her grotesque blue veined fingers with their long sharp nails. She screeched and withdrew her hand hastily. Relieved, Davis turned to speak to his colleagues. He stared in silent shock at the scene before him.

Higgins was lying in a heap on the floor. Jennings was slumped in a chair. His face was deadly pale and his mouth and eyes were wide open in an expression of terror. His head lay back revealing two red holes in his neck. Spike was sitting on the edge of the table wearing his human face and smoking a fag.

"Hello Davis. My name is Spike. I believe you have met Lucy. We will be getting to know you intimately in the next few moments."

Davis' eyes widened in terror.

Spike raised his eyes to the ceiling.

"I don't mean like that. I'm not going to roger you." Said Spike standing up. "I'm not called Angel, after all". At that point, Davis remembered his rifle. He Pressed the trigger frantically and the gun jolted in his hands as he emptied the whole magazine.

Needless to say, this was not part of Spike's master plan. As the bullets slammed into every part of his body at high velocity, in quick succession and at close range, Spike found himself dancing and spinning around uncontrollably like a string puppet. The salvo only lasted a few short seconds, but for Spike it seemed like a lot longer as each individual bullet caused him to grunt and jolt from the searing pain as the bullets struck his chest, his back, his arms, his legs and his stomach.

When the last bullet struck him full in the groin, Spike collapsed like a rag doll crashing through the wooden table in a heap on the floor.

Davis stood motionless as Spike lay still among the remains of the shattered table. He did not seem to hear the voice from the radio.

"Officer Davis. Are you there? Please report your situation."

Spike began to move among the splintered remains of the table. Davis, wide eyed, retreated slowly.

"Bloody hell! That hurt!" Cried Spike sitting up. Feeling a sharp pain in his back, he patted the back of his left shoulder and removed a sharp splinter that was lodged there.

"Now that was too bloody close for comfort." He looked up at Davis, who stood there unable to believe his eyes. "You almost dusted me, you git!"

Before Davis could react further, Lucy burst in from behind and grabbed Davis round the chest and gleefully sank her fangs into his neck. He cried out briefly.

Held in Lucy's vice like grip as she drained him of his blood, he could only watch as Spike slowly stood up and brushed himself down.

Spike was relieved Lucy had not seen the shooting incident. That would have been embarrassing.

"Look what you've done to my jacket, you prick."

Having recovered his composure, he brushed back his peroxide blond hair with one hand and watched Lucy as she fed on the petrified cop.

"That's enough, my girl. We'll need this one for later." Spike transformed into his vamp face.

Lucy lifted her head and grinned with delight. Spike grabbed Davis and ripped off his microphone, silencing the voice from the radio. As Lucy held Davis' head to one side, Spike growled and sank his fangs into the cop's neck, sucking the blood out eagerly.

Just as Davis' heart was about to stop, Spike stopped feeding and stood back. He slashed his own wrist with his finger nails and let the blood drip into Davis' mouth. Davis choked on the blood pouring down his throat, swallowed and slumped down in Lucy's arms. They let the corpse collapse to the ground. Spike smiled and changed to his human face. The siring was successful.

In the distance they could hear the sound of sirens. Time to go.

"Why did we not change the others?" Asked Lucy

This was a really irritating question.

"Don't ask bloody stupid questions." Replied Spike. "I know who will make the strongest vampires."

That was true, but he did not explain that Davis would actually make the weakest vampire. Jennings had resisted the siring, an occurrence that happens more often than vampires would like to admit, especially when they were in a mystic void. Higgins would have made a strong vampire indeed, as is the case with most middle age humans. But Spike needed followers, not rivals to his authority. And he was not about to admit that, especially to a newly raised vampire like Lucy.

Spike collected all the cash from the cops. That would keep him supplied with the essentials for some time. Fags, beer and, where necessary, blood. Then he flicked the switch on the wall to open the gates.

"Where do we hunt now? I'm still hungry". Asked Lucy as they walked to the car. Spike went over to the car trunk and collected the blood. Spike threw her one of the bags.

"Make do with this. And stop moaning." Lucy sneered at him in disgust, still in her vamp face.

Then picking up a gas fuel tank from the trunk, Spike doused the car in petrol. He lit a cigarette, took one drag and threw it on the car. As he walked through the open gate into the city, the car exploded into a fireball behind him. Lucy looked at it, and then hurried after Spike.

From the darkness, they looked back to see police cars arriving at the guard house. They'd timed it perfectly. Three kills, his fill of blood and a bundle of cash. Now to find a place to crash. It was so easy. Well, apart from being riddles with bullets, including one right in the knackers. And almost being accidentally staked. But then Spike had always lived on the edge. And he had always been able to ride his luck.

They walked through the streets. The buildings and roads were in disrepair. Here and there some tramps were warming themselves by flames lit in barrels and other containers. The city really was in an economic mess, just like the rest of the country. The chaos would provide the perfect cover for Spike.

"We could take one of these." Said Lucy, pointing to a lone tramp.

"Not here." Grunted Spike. "We need to scarper before the pigs turn up."

"Huh?" She mumbled, looking at him with a dim look on her face. Spike shook his head. Look's like he had another Harmony on his hands. He could tell that she was really going to annoy him. It was inevitable.

"If we stay here we will get caught." He said in a very slow and patronising voice. She seemed to understand that. She nodded. She looked around.

"What is this place?" She asked. Spike smiled in reply.

"This is Seattle, babe. This is where the electromagnetic bomb went off." She looked at him questioningly. "It was from here that I was set free. It was here that allowed Spike to say goodbye to Mr Chip."

She looked at him idiotically, still in her vamp face, mouth hanging open. Another stupid blond bint, thought Spike to himself. Although he realised that she could not possibly know what he was talking about.

Some terrorists had let off an electromagnetic bomb in Seattle a few years before. This had wiped out all electronically stored data causing chaos in the USA and much of the world. The country had still not recovered from the depression that followed. The human Lucy would almost certainly have been aware of these facts. But she would not know about Spike's chip.

For Spike, the effect was significant. The bomb had freed him from Willow's binding spell and neutralised the chip that prevented him from harming humans. From that day, the Big Bad was back.

"Never mind. Now put your pretty face on for uncle Spike." He said. She changed her face to human form and beamed at him with her pretty smile. "That's my girl". He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

Yes, this was Seattle. No Helllmouth. No Demons. No Slayers. The Big Bad would probably be the only real vamp in the city. (Lucy being a newly raised blond dimwit, naturally didn't count). He smiled at the thought. No Buffy. He frowned a little. And no Willow. He shivered at that thought. Unusual for vampires who don't feel the cold.

Lucy obviously noticed his discomfort. "What's wrong, Spike?"

"Nothing's wrong". He snapped. Then, more tenderly. "There should be easy pickings here. We have the whole town to ourselves." That he believed was true. He took her hand and they walked arm in arm into the shadows of the inner city.

Back in the guard house, the pages of Sergeant Higgins' newspaper were flipped over from a gust of air as armed police burst in on the scene of the slaughter. A moment later, the pages settled and lay open on one of the pages with a headline and a story that may have worried Spike if he had seen it. The headline read "Further Mutant Attacks reported".

This was Seattle in 2020. It was a Mystic Void, where there was almost zero mystical energy. The very opposite of a Hell Mouth. Here, there were no demons, slayers or vengeful witches to worry about. But Spike was soon to find out that Seattle had its own share of super humans and monsters. For in the Mystic Void of Seattle, the transgenics were waiting.


	3. Vampire Rising

**Author's note: There is some dark humour and sexual references in this chapter. The whacky nature of some off the humour in this chapter is a one-off and will not be repeated in the rest of the story.**

**The Dark Angel characters will start to make an appearance from the next chapter.**

CHAPTER 3 - VAMPIRE RISING

"Where the hell is she?" Spike asked himself whispering.

He was standing in a hospital corridor beside the door of the female locker room. He expected Davis to rise up tonight and Spike wanted to make sure that he didn't leave too much of a trail as newly raise vamps often could. That meant rescuing him, or staking him. If Davis was captured and interrogated, he might well spill the beans. New vamps had a nasty habit of boasting about their new vampiric powers. It was far too soon for that.

He was really getting impatient now.

At first he didn't mind waiting. Being in a hospital reminded him of the time he had helped Buffy save Dawn from Glory. He smiled at the thought of those good times. Buffy and he had fought together. But he also remembered that Glory had definitively whipped his ass. Both their asses. At least Willow had saved them by using her magic to teleport Glory away. At the thought of Willow, a pearl of sweat rolled from Spike's forehead onto nose. That was not natural. Vampires don't normally sweat. Unless of course, it is from sheer terror.

He couldn't wait any longer. He looked around to ensure nobody was looking, before quickly opening the door of the locker room and entering.

He closed the door behind him. The lights were full on. "Lucy! Where are you?" He whispered.

From behind the lockers he could hear a vivid sucking sound. He moved swiftly among the rows of lockers and soon found Lucy sitting on the floor draining the blood from the neck of a young female nurse lying face up in front of her. Beside them, another older and fatter nurse lay face down.

"Oh, for Christ sake!" Swore Spike.

Lucy looked up gleefully. "Hi Spike. I kept that one for you. She is still fresh." She hissed gaily nodding toward the other nurse.

Spike could not stop the anger well up inside him. "You stupid cow. I told you we would not be hunting tonight. You were supposed to steal a uniform and come right out. Not leave a trail of bleedin' corpses strewn around. That's why we ate before coming here."

"I was still hungry, Spike. And this one looked so fresh and young." She licked her lips. "I can feel her youth pulsing through my veins."

Spike could not help himself from kicking one of the lockers smashing in the door with a loud crash. "Utter bollocks." He almost shouted.

Lucy looked from side to side. "Calm down, Spike. You might attract attention." She hissed again.

"I don't believe it." Spike raise his hand and dropped them again as he turned away in despair. Up until now Lucy had been very useful. She had lured some young men and women into their lair. Spike had sired some of the suitable ones and he expected them to rise in the next couple of nights. However, Lucy was also very stupid. That had its advantages. But in this case it was proving to be very dangerous.

"Me attract attention." He whispered harshly. "Did you not think two dead nurses might attract a little bit of attention."

Lucy pondered this a moment. She pointed to the fat one.

"That one is not dead." Then looking down at the young one. "And I sired this one. She will rise and join the armies of the walking dead to feast on the living blood of humanity. She will join us in our crusade to bring chaos to the world."

Spike raised his eyes in disdain.

"Yeah, Yeah." He really wondered where newly raised vamps came up with this bollocks. He'd had enough of this.

"Two things." Spike marched over to the fat nurse and grabbing her head, swiftly broke her neck. "One. She is dead."

Lucy grinned gleefully, still in her vampire face.

"That was very wicked, Spike. You didn't even feed off her."

Then Spike grabbed Lucy and pulled her up.

"And secondly, you cannot sire. Only I can."

Lucy looked down at the dead nurse.

"Why only you?" She hissed.

"Because I'm bleedin'magic." He said.

"But that's not fair. I want to sire too." She whined.

Spike slammed her backwards against one of the lockers.

"Look." He whispered harshly. "When you have killed two slayers, fought a Hell God, had a chip put in your head by a government agency, been imprisoned in a fantasy world by a psycho lesbo witch, and had to put up with the company of a smart arse nancy-boy called Angelus for three decades, then maybe, just maybe, you can think about siring."

Lucy looked at him mouth open, a doubtful expression on her gormless vamp face.

"And I fought Buffy Summers and survived". He added.

She thought a little and nodded. That had convinced her.

"OK, Spike. We'll do it your way." He didn't know why, but that worked every time. Even though new vamps had never heard of Buffy Summers before, they all seemed to know who she was. And how good she was.

"OK. Now put your pretty face on again." He said. Lucy changed into her sweet pretty face and beamed up at him again. "Now be a good girl and go and stuff these corpses into the lockers."

Now to try to sneak into the morgue undetected. Lucy put on one of the nurse's uniforms. They entered a nearby store room and stole a trolley. Spike lay face up on the trolley and Lucy covered him completely with a white sheet so he would look like a corpse.

Gaily, Lucy pushed the trolley along the corridors. She passed a few orderlies and nurses, but none appeared to pay her much attention. As Lucy pushed along, she noticed that the top of Spike's blond head protruded from the front of the trolley. With great amusement she crashed Spike's head against one of the swing doors as violently as she could. Finding this to be great fun, she pushed on enthusiastically to the next door.

Spike became increasingly angrier as the top of his head battered against each door they came to. At first, he thought it was unintentional. But when Lucy started to reverse the trolley before each door so she could crash his head with even greater force against it, he realised that she was taking the piss.

"Will you be more careful, you stupid trollop." Whispered Spike after a particularly nasty collision.

Lucy giggled. "Ssssh. Spike. People might hear you" She hissed in response. She giggled again as she looked around at the empty corridor.

It was almost with regret that Lucy finally approached the morgue door. But she decided she would have one final fling. She reversed the trolley back as far as she could and then charged it with all her force against the morgue swing doors, almost smashing them off their hinges. Then she let the trolley go and it careered into the room, slamming against a table and catapulting Spike head first into the far wall. Spikes head smacked violently against the plastering before he fell onto the floor in a sorry mangled heap.

Furious and with a major head ache, Spike sprung up still tangled in the sheet. He managed to untangle himself and flung the sheet on the ground. Then drawing his wooden stake, he strode over to the giggling Lucy and grabbed her, pinning her against the wall. She giggled again. He raised the stake and plunged it into her chest, just missing the heart. She shrieked in pain. Spike withdrew the stake and she smiled sweetly up at him again.

"If you do anything like that again, I will rip your heart out next time. Do you understand?" Spike said threateningly.

Lucy giggled again. "Oh, Spike. You're so funny."

Spike really was tempted to stake Lucy. But he needed her, at least for the moment. That was the problem with vampire companions. They were so damn selfish and malicious. In fact, he didn't expect her to survive too long anyway. Of all the vampire companions he'd had in the last few years, none had survived for longer than six months. Most had been killed by Willow or the other Scoobies each time they managed to track him down, as they always did. Many of them had unwittingly sacrificed themselves to allow Spike to escape. However, he had also dusted a few with his own hands when they got too cocky. He was beginning to have the sneaky suspicion that Lucy was not the dumb blond he originally thought she was.

He looked around. Despite the bedlam, nobody seemed to have noticed and the area around the morgue was empty and dark. Spike released her from the wall.

"OK. Go and check the for PC plod." Said Spike. "And no more mucking about, for Christ's sake."

She stood a moment, indecisive.

"Oh, you mean the cop." She said and went to the large metal cabinets containing the storage units. "Why do we need a cop, anyway?" She asked.

Because they do what they're bloody well told." He snarled. In fact, it was because they had local knowledge and often have access to some useful areas of the town. "Now get moving." He shoved Lucy towards the cabinets.

They pulled out the units and inspected the refrigerated naked corpses. Most were victims of stabbings, gunshot wounds and motor accidents. Spike smiled as he found the corpse of Sergeant Higgins and officer Jennings and paused grinning to admire his handy work.

At the other end of the cabinets, Lucy was frowning at the contents of one of the storage units. Inside was a humanoid shaped body with claws on its hands and feet, and brown scaly skin. The head seemed to have neither a mouth, nose nor ears. Instead, it had small wholes in parts of the head that Lucy concluded would serve these functions. The Eyes on the other hand were covered by a thick scaly membrane.

"Spike. Come and see this. This isn't human. It must be a demon" Said Lucy, concerned.

"There are no demons here, love. This is a mystic void. And we are too far from a Hell Mouth." Answered Spike patronisingly as he continued to look in the other storage units.

"But Spike. Its skin is all scaly." She replied.

Spike was sure it was probably a mummified corps from a fire accident.

"Just keep looking. We've no time for fairy tales." He said, making no attempt to hide the contempt in his voice.

Lucy was about respond, when they heard a banging noise from one of the storage units. That must be Davis. They rushed over to the unit and pulled it out. Davis smiled up at them, frozen and naked.

Davis climbed off the tray and stretched his arms wide, a huge rock hard erection swinging from side to side in front of him. Then he put his hands on his hips and thrust his pelvis out. Both Lucy and Spike stared in shock at his erect organ as it swung there. It was uncommonly large.

"Blimey!" Said Spike. At first he couldn't take his eyes of it, but then he averted his gaze, not want to give the impression that he was gay or something.

"Whoar!" Said Lucy, who bent down to get a closer look. "Is that real?" She stretched out a finger towards it.

"I have risen at last." Said Davis, his vamp face glowing in the darkness. "The humans. I can hear the beating of their hearts and smell their blood rushing through their veins."

Spike and Lucy looked at each other and then around the room. This, of course, was utter bollocks. There was no human in sight. Newly raised vamps were always delusional about such things.

"Bring me my first victims. I shall rip out their hearts and suck the blood from their very souls. And the world will end in…."

"Yeah, right, OK Beelzebub." Said Spike interrupting him. "Now get on the soddin' trolley and put the sheet over your body." Spike knew that new vamps could not change their faces to human form until they had fed on their first victim. But first, they had to get out the hospital without further incident.

"But my victims…" Said Davis.

"Look. Just get on the bloody trolley. Otherwise the only victim here will be you." Snapped Spike impatiently.

Davis looked at him a moment a bit disconcerted. Then he shrugged his shoulders and walked past the cabinets towards the trolley. To Spike's annoyance, each time Davis passed a corpse in an open storage units, he made some dramatic sinister movements with his fingers and laughed "Ha, ha!" Then he reached the storage unit containing the corpse with the scaly body and stopped suddenly.

"Euch. What is that?" He asked, shocked.

Spike stormed over and slammed the storage unit shut without looking at the contents.

"Look mate. Will you just get on the damn trolley. We've wasted enough time already." Said Spike in irritation. "And put that thing away." He added pointing to Davis' enormous swinging organ. "Or I'll get Lucy to bite it off."

Davis looked horrified. Lucy looked absolutely thrilled on the other hand.

"Can I Spike? Can I, please?" She hissed eagerly, changing into her vamp face and snapping her teeth together.

Spike sighed in despair. "You get on the damn trolley." He snapped, picking up the sheet and throwing it at Davis.

"And you stop being a pain in the arse." Spike said pointing to the grinning Lucy. "And get your other face on. You can't walk about a hospital like that. You look like a bull dog chewing a wasp."

He went to a white doctor's cloak hanging by the door and put it on.

"That's a good idea, Spike." Said Lucy. "Why didn't you think of that when we stole the trolley. There were lots of cloaks in the store room."

That was an intelligent question, which naturally did not make Spike look very intelligent.

"Because, you blond twit, I wanted to ensure the trolley was stable enough." It was the best he could think of. To his surprise, Lucy nodded.

"Good point, Spike." Maybe she was stupid after all.

A few minutes later, they were finally on their way. Davis lay naked face up on the trolley underneath a white sheet, while Spike and Lucy pushed him through the hospital corridors. Spike noticed that they seemed to be attracting a lot of attention on the way out. Probably because Davis' massive erection pointing up from beneath the sheet made it look like they were pushing a large tent rather than a trolley. It also didn't help that Lucy kept giggling and sniggering at it uncontrollably as they pushed the trolley along the corridors. The nurses, doctors and other hospital staff who they passed looked at them with increasing suspicion.

Just as they were nearing reception, an alarm went off. A nurse at reception was speaking to two security guard at the reception and pointed at Spike and his companions.

"Looks like we've been rumbled." Said Spike. "Let's get out of here."

There were screams from the people around as Davis leapt from the trolley, naked and still in his vamp face. All three rushed towards the exit.

Two security guards shouted to them and ran to block their exit, drawing their revolvers. Spike punched one of them sending him crashing through the glass entrance door. Lucy grabbed the other guard and threw him with both hands, sending him slamming against a nearby wall. Then with people shouting and screaming in panic, all three vamps fled outside into the night.

Despite the excitement of the escape, they all managed to reach Spike's lair without being detected or stopped. The operation hadn't gone totally smoothly, but at least they had managed to free Davis without anyone being dusted or captured.

When they finally arrived, Spike slapped Davis on the back.

"Now you can have your victim." Said Spike pointing to a young woman who was lying bound and gagged in the corner of the room. The girl looked up in terror as Davis approached her, bearing his fangs with evil anticipation.


	4. Crash

CHAPTER 3 - CRASH

Spike sucked in one last mouthful of blood and let the old man fall to the ground. He looked disgusted at the unkempt corpse dressed in rags and lit a cigarette.

"Well, that really was quite revolting." He said to himself and took a drag, trying to get the after-taste out his mouth.

He looked around the abandoned basement that constituted his layer. On an old couch, Lucy was feeding noisily from an old women. In a corner of the room, three other vampires were feasting on the blood of a man in tramp's clothes, one feeding from the neck and the other two from the wrists.

He looked over to Lucy again. She had just slit her own wrists with her long nails and was letting her blood dribble into the old women's mouth. Spike smiled at her vain attempt at siring.

"It won't work, you know. I keep telling you. Only uncle Spike can sire here." He said looking down at her.

"But why not?" Asked Lucy looking up at him despondent. It's exactly what you do."

Spike took another drag on his cigarette. Normally he would have rebuked her with a sarcastic comment. But tonight he was a bit depressed. For once he told her the truth.

"This is a Mystic Void, love." He sighed. "There is no mystical energy here. You'd have to be a vamp for least fifty years to sire in this dump." He looked at the body of the old woman. "Anyway, we don't want any more vamp trash. We have enough already."

He looked across at the other three vampires whom he'd had the dubious honour of siring. All three were youngish homeless types. But none had any spirit and all three had given up too easily, without a whimper. They were all obedient. Too obedient and too dull. But, at least there was no threat of receiving a stake in the back as was usually the case.

Unusually for Spike, things in Seattle had gone without a hitch since his arrival, even if the incidents at the checkpoint and at the hospital were a bit hairy. Yup! It wasn't as exciting and dangerous as Sunnydale. But at least it was safe here.

"And ruddy boring!" He said to himself. Lucy looked up at him from the couch with that stupid expression on her face, questioning him with her eyes.

"You know", he continued. "I think its time we were a bit more adventurous. I'm fed up with tramps and runaways. Its time we treated ourselves to something with more…. quality. "He looked across at the other vamps. "And a bit more life." Spike smiled. "Yup! Its time to let everyone know that the Big Bad is in town."

Lucy got up, her hideous vamp face even more wrinkled by a frown.

"But Spike, you said we had to keep a low profile."

That was true. He had said it continuously, and had meant it. And Lucy had at lat last come to accept it, despite being rebellious at first. But things had been ridiculously easy here over the last couple of weeks and it was time to have some fun.

"We're vampires, love. Evil creatures of the night. Curse of mankind and all that stuff. We're supposed to kill people and cause chaos in an orgy of blood and terror. Not act like a bunch of well behaved girl guides at a Sunday School bible class."

Spike took a drag of his cigarette looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Actually, that sounds quite appealing. Crashing a Sunday school bible class."

Lucy changed into her pretty human face and smiled sweetly. Then she looked at Spike with a confused expression on her face.

"That sounds good, Spike. But where will we find a Sunday school bible class on a Thursday night?"

Spike rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that was a serious question. But from the expression on Lucy's face, apparently it was.

"You know, I think we will leave the Sunday school for another day. " Said Spike with a strong hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Perhaps, you know, for a Sunday."

"Okay, Spike. Where shall we go then?" Asked Lucy. Spike looked at her pretty face and smiled.

"Let's go to a boozer instead. We can have a beer, some crisps, a game of pool." He took another drag of his cigarette as Lucy looked at him vacantly. "Oh, and then we'll slaughter everyone and trash the place. It'll be just like old times."

Lucy smiled with glee. Although she was extremely thick, she had no problem understanding references to death and pain. Sweet really.

"Round up the lackeys, love. We're going now!" Ordered Spike, turning up the collar of his leather jacket.

"What about Davis?" Asked Lucy.

"Where is PC plod, anyway?" Asked Spike looking around, referring to the cop he had vamped on his arrival in Seattle.

"He's still out hunting with the others." Replied Lucy. "Said something about slaughtering his family."

"Typical." Grunted Spike. New vamps were always so predictable.

"Shall we wait for him?" Asked Lucy. Spike pondered this a moment.

"Nah! He's useless anyway." Spike smirked. Then smiling as Lucy giggled.

"Let's go! It's party time"

With that Spike strode out the basement, followed by Lucy. The other three obedient vamps shuffled after them. Swiftly, they walked through the dark, rubbish filled streets of the Seattle, passing the frequent groups of homeless men and women who were huddled around fires made from rubbish. These people had been their prey for the last two weeks. But not tonight.

Spike led the others into a bar called 'Crash' he had spotted a couple of days before while wandering about the streets. It was poorly lit inside and it reminded Spike a little of the Bronze in Sunnydale.

There were only a handful of customers tonight. A couple stood at the bar and a few customers sat at the various wooden tables dotted around the establishment. But it was the two attractive young women playing pool a few yards away that caught Spike's attention. One was a very pretty exotic looking white girl with dark hair, while the other was a African-American girl with a large afro style hair-do. Both wore jeans and casual tops. Spike ordered a drink and sat on a bar stool. He watched the two friends laugh and joke as they played pool. He smiled to himself.

"Look at these two." He said almost to himself. "They have spirit. That's the sort of talent we need."

The white girl won the game and strode towards the bar, swaying her well shaped hips. As Spike observed them, he considered waiting for a bit and ambushing them outside.

"Nah. Bollocks to that". He murmured. He needed some excitement after keeping low for so long. He turned to Lucy.

"I'll take the one at the pool table. You take the other one. But don't kill her before I have my share. She will be coming back with us." He turned to the others who looked at him obediently.

"When I strike, trash the place. This bar is about to become a front page headline." The others nodded.

While the other girl was at the bar, Spike wandered up to the black girl with the afro. She looked at him.

"What do you want?"

Spike grabbed the pool stick.

"I want to play." He said.

"Hey, what are doing?" Cried the dark-skinned girl and tried to grab the pool cue back. "It's not your game." He smiled gleefully as she struggled with him over the pool cue. This was more like it. Eventually he let her have the cue.

"You take your scrawny spiky haired ass somewhere else." She rebuked him scathingly.

He approached her slowly smiling, making her walk back against the pool table.

"I'm not going anywhere, honey." He said. She looked round towards her friend, still at the bar. "And either are you." With that he changed into his vamp face and launched himself at her.

To his surprise she struggled, fought and screamed out loud. Normally, humans became paralysed with fear when they first glimpsed a vamp face, but this girl pulled her head back away from his fangs and desperately tried to push him away.

"Max! Help me!" Screamed the girl.

But it was all in vain. Spike knew he was too strong for her. And after a short, but entertaining struggle, he was able to force his mouth down to her neck and sank his fangs into her flesh.

He rapidly sucked the blood out. He had to be quick. Normally he would have taken his time to savour the healthy young blood as it poured into him. But he had two sirings to do and there was a risk his vamp gang would kill the other one too quickly.

Around him he could hear the sound of fighting, violence and destruction as his vamp gang attacked the rest of the bar, smashing chairs and tables to bits. But he did not look up. He finished feeding quickly and slit his own wrist. Spike was impressed that the girl still tried to resist as he forced his wrist onto her face, although she was weakened. She certainly had spirit. But he was too strong and she was soon choking on his vamp charged blood as it poured down her throat.

From the bar he heard a girl cry "Cindy!" at the top of her voice. He looked up. He could not believe what he saw.

The bar was in a mess, with smashed tables, chairs and bottles lying everywhere. The customers and bar staff had all fled the bar. All of spike's vamp gang were attacking the friend of the black girl. Unbelievably, she was kicking their asses.

She sent one vamp flying to her left with a hard blow to the face. Then spinning round, she struck two other vamps hard with a flying kick, sending them both sprawling to the floor in front of her. Seeing Spike drop Cindy's body to the ground, she launched herself towards him at great speed.

But before she could get near him, vamp Lucy threw herself at the girl and the two females tumbled to the ground. They wrestled on the wooden floor for a moment. Lucy managed to get on top of the girl and edged her fangs towards her neck. Spike smiled. This one did have spirit.

" Don't kill her too soon!" He shouted. "Leave some for me."

But as the two girls struggled, the human suddenly grabbed a loose bit of sharp wood on the ground and thrust it deep into Lucy's back. Lucy screeched and sat bolt upright, arching her back from the blow. Wide eyed, Spike and the remaining three vampires looked on in disbelief. Then as the demon left Lucy's body with its habitual death groan, her body disintegrated into a shower of dust.

For a moment there was total silence, as Spike and the other three vamps looked on in shock.

"Bloody hell." Exclaimed Spike. "She dusted Lucy."

Spike's first assumption was that the girl was simply well trained in the martial arts. Often such fighters could better the weaker and younger vampires like Lucy and the others. But Spike was over a hundred years old and would be too strong for her. He growled and charged forward.

But before he could reach her, she sprang up on her feet like a cat. With superhuman speed and agility, she smashed Spike hard in the face with her right fist. Spike was sent hurtling through the air and ended up crashing, hard and painfully, against the pool table.

Spike sat there on the floor a moment, a bit dazed. Humans could not punch like that. There could be only one explanation. And he could not believe she was here, in Seattle, in this bar, with Spike. It seemed impossible.

The other vamps gathered round the girl growling and ready to attack. The girl held her ground, poised in readiness.

Spike got slowly to his feet smiling. This one would not get away. This time the Big Bad would get himself another scalp. He walked towards her slowly. Then, he stood in front of her grinning. He growled one word. A word he had not spoken in anger for many, many years.

"Slayer!"


	5. Boy Slayer

CHAPTER 5 - BOY SLAYER

"Slayer!"

Stake in hand, the girl advanced towards Spike. But Spike had no intention of fighting her alone. And he wanted to see what she was made off.

"Kill her!" Spike growled.

One of the other vamps launched himself at her. The girl thrust out the stake with her left hand, penetrating the vamp's chest. With a screech, the vamp exploded in a shower of dust, destroying the stake in the process. Before the others could react, she sent a female vamp flying against the bar counter with a high kick. Then somersaulting across the room away from the vamps, the girl landed beside a pool cue which was lying on the floor.

Spike nodded in recognition of her talents. This one was good. Almost as good as Buffy.

The girl grabbed the cue from the floor and snapped it in two. One of the two remaining vamps charged towards her. The girl raised the thin half of the cue and speared the vamp on the jagged splinter, dusting the vamp and disintegrating the wood. Spike smiled to himself again. How many times had he seen Buffy do that?! Ah, memories.

Then, with the other hand the girl raised the other half of the cue and sent it hurtling like a javelin towards the female vamp who was just getting up off the floor. The wooden shaft penetrated the chest of the vamp and threw her backward, pinning her to the front of the bar. For a moment the female vamp dangled there stupidly, and then belatedly disintegrated into a cloud of dust.

Spike's smile disappeared. He couldn't remember seeing that manoeuvre before. The girl spun round to face Spike, who was now back in his human face. He clapped his hands slowly to applaud her.

"Well, slayer. You will be a challenge." Spike said. Oh, how he had missed the banter with Buffy all these years before.

But this girl was no Buffy. She sped nimbly across the room and smashed Spike hard in the head with her right fist, knocking him against the bar near to where the female vamp had just been dusted. With incredible strength she pinned Spike to the front of the bar counter with her left hand. Then with her right hand, she grabbed the remains of the still quivering pool cue which was still sticking out from the front of the bar and raised it high above her head ready to strike.

"Applaud this!" She said and thrust the sharp wood towards Spike's heart. At this moment, Spike realised that this girl was not into banter, probably because he had killed her friend. Normally, Spike would have relished a fight to the death with a slayer. But he preferred fights he knew he could win. In this case, he didn't fancy his chances. It was time to scarper.

He grabbed the girl's wrist as it swung towards him and stopped the wood just before it penetrated his heart. Then, he grabbed her other wrist with his other hand and kicked her feet away. She collapsed slightly. This was all Spike needed. He lifted her up and threw her across the width of the bar, sending her slamming into the opposite wall. Momentarily dazed, the girl slid down to the floor in a heap. Spike scrambled to his feet. But before he could take advantage of the situation, a young man with short brown hair and a leather jacket rushed into the bar.

"Max! Are you alright!" He shouted. When the young man saw Spike's vamp face, he reacted with superhuman speed. He charged forward and punched Spike hard in the chest with a blow that would have killed a human.

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Spike as he stumbled back. This really was no joke. This guy had slayer strength too. Spike realised he had to get out of there if he wanted to survive. He could not take on two slayers at once.

Regaining his balance, Spike responded with his full 130 years vamp strength and hammered the man twice in the face with both fists as hard as he could. The blow would have easily killed a normal human outright, but in this case it only caused the man to stagger back a little dazed. However, it was enough to buy some time. Spike took full advantage of it and fled from the bar into the night as fast as he could go. He stopped running after a short time when he realised his adversaries were not going to pursue him.

A few minutes later he watched from the edge of a deserted lane as the girl and the young man helped the black girl away from the bar. He wondered to himself if the girl was a slayer. She had killed four vamps in less than a minute. Almost too efficient. And the boy surely couldn't be a slayer. Unless nancy boys could become slayers. Perhaps the boy was the Angel of slayers. Spike pondered that a moment and smirked at his own wit.

Spike looked on as they walked swiftly into the distance.

"Do not get too comfortable, my friends." Spike said to himself as he lit a cigarette looking on. "A new darkness is rising. For betrayal is my ally, and your love for your friend will be your downfall." He coolly took a drag from his cigarette.

"And don't worry, my pet." He continued referring to Cindy. "I promise I will come to get you. I never break a promise to a lady."

Suddenly, from behind him, Spike heard the sound of boots running on gravel and the click of automatic rifles being readied. He turned round just as the soldiers opened fire.

Spike danced like a string puppet as several dozen bullets struck his body in the space of a few seconds. When the firing stopped he collapsed to the ground in agony, incredulous that this had happened a second time. For a moment he was motionless. Bullets could not kill a vampire, but several hundred could momentarily immobilize one. Then as he tried to rise himself up, two soldiers rushed forward and struck him with electrically charged batons, stunning him.

As Spike lay there helpless and paralysed, the soldiers bound his hands and feet.

"He's still alive. No man could have survived that." He heard one soldier say. "He must be one of those mutants"

Then, as he lay there helpless, he saw a man in an overcoat approach the soldiers and show them an identity card.

"I'm agent White. I'll take it from here."

Spike groaned in desperation. A slayer in a Mystic Void. And a boy slayer?! That couldn't be right, surely?

And now captured by a government agency. To Spike, oh so familiar. And an experience that he did not relish repeating at all.


	6. Something Evil

CHAPTER 6 - SOMETHING EVIL

The dark haired girl who had fought Spike in the bar walked over to the man with the glasses sitting at the computer. He was about thirty, had short light coloured hair and was unshaven.

"Have you found anything out, yet, Logan?"

Logan looked from the desk to the women he loved. They were in his penthouse.

"Yes, Max. I have done some investigating into your blond friend."

"I would say more peroxide than blond." Frowned Max. "And he is no friend of mine after what he did to Cindy. I really want to find him and waste his ass."

Logan looked at her. He was worried. Max was generally a compassionate person. It made him uncomfortable to see her so vengeful.

"Well, you were right. He is not a transgenic."

"I figured that." She said. "During the fight in the bar I managed to check the back of one of their necks and there was definitely no bar code."

"Of course, they could have had their barcodes removed." Replied Logan. "We know many transgenics have done this to avoid detection, even if it does re-appear later."

Max shook her head.

"There was something else. When I fought them, they seemed strange, like they were not from this world. Transgenics are genetically modified. But I could tell they were not transgenics. They were something different. Something evil. Something….supernatural."

"Let me ask you something, Max." Said Logan, turning to look at her. "How did you know that a stake to the heart would kill them?"

"I didn't." Replied Max. " I just did it automatically. Perhaps it was my heightened transgenic instinct."

"And why did you kill them at all?" Logan quizzed her further. "You are not normally so ruthless with the enemies you fight."

"I'm not sure." Answered Max. " I just sensed they were evil and dangerous. I knew they had to be slain."

"It's interesting you should say that." Replied Logan. He hesitated a moment. "I think your friend is a vampire."

Max stood beside him in shocked silence for a moment.

"You must be joking." Said Max in disbelief. "Vampires are a myth"

"A myth that is apparently true." Logan replied. "I'm surprised you find it so strange. You are almost a supernatural being yourself."

She shook her head again. "I just can't believe it."

Logan turned to the computer screen and started to tap on the keyboard.

"Think about it. From your account of last night, your attackers meet many of the descriptions given about vampires in the myths. They have fangs. They drink blood. They can only be killed with a stake to the heart and they turn to dust when they die. You were right before. They are supernatural"

"It is so hard to accept." Sighed Max. "At least transgenics have been created by humans. But, these creatures are beyond our understanding."

"This may convince you". Logan showed her several computer screens with news stories and photos.

"Three cops were killed at a check-point three weeks ago. They were all drained of their blood. This man was photographed at the scene by one of the CCTV." A rough picture of Spike appeared. Max bent down and looked at it intently.

"That is definitely him." She said. "And that is one of the female attackers from the bar." She said, pointing to a picture of Lucy from the same news story.

Logan showed photos from another story.

"Then, a couple of days after that, one of the dead cops escaped with your two friends from a hospital morgue. He was definitely dead before he went in. During the escape two nurses were murdered and two guards were seriously injured. One of the dead nurses had bite marks on the neck and was drained of her blood"

Max shivered.

"Then the cop was raised from the dead. But I didn't see him in the bar."

"Which means he is probably still at large."

Logan showed more photos of corpses lying in the street and continued talking.

"Since then there have been numerous victims, including the cop's family. Most of the victims were homeless, which is why the news was not widely reported. All were drained of their blood. And there have been more disappearances than usual."

"They are multiplying. I have to stop them." Said Max thoughtfully. At least I know how to kill them. All I need to do is find them."

Logan looked at her tenderly.

"You will have to be careful. They are dangerous killers who show no mercy. And the leader is powerful. He survived mortal blows from both you and Alec. He may not be easy to defeat."

"If only Alec had been there earlier." Said Max mournfully, referring to her male transgenic friend who had helped her against Spike. "Cindy might not have been hurt."

"You can't blame yourself or Alec". Said Logan. "Look how many people you saved. If you were not there, many more would have died in that bar."

"I know." Replied Max. "And that is why I must find him. I must kill them all before they attack anyone else. I must kill him for Cindy." Replied Max, determined.

There was silence for a moment.

"How is Cindy?" Logan asked compassionately.

There was a slight tear in Max's eye as she replied, her voice a little shaky. "She is with Joshua. She is alive, but only just." She stared at one of the photos of Spike a moment.

"I must find him."

Logan tapped a number into the phone.

"I may be able to help you. It appears that someone else is looking for our blond vampire. I think it is time to contact her."

The phone on the other side began to ring. "Who is she?" Asked Max, curious.

Before Logan could answer, the phone line came alive as a male voice answered. Logan spoke into through the phone line.

"This is Logan from Seattle. I would like to speak to the Mayor, please."

"Of course, sir." Answered the man. "She is expecting your call. I will put you through by video link."

The computer screen changed to show the face of a pretty young woman with long straight red hair and green eyes.

"Mayors must be getting younger these days. She can only be twenty." Said Max, looking at the screen. The woman smiled.

"Hello, Logan. It is good to speak to you at last." She shifted her gaze to Max and smiled sweetly. "In fact I am 38 years old." She said directly to Max. Max blushed, a little embarrassed, and a little shocked.

"I would like to introduce myself." Continued the woman returning her sweet smile to Logan. "I am the Major of Sunnydale. My name is Willow Rosenberg."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of Seattle, Joshua woke with a start from the couch on which he was sleeping. It was dark in the room. He sat up and sniffed the air around.

"Cindy?!" He could hear movements in the room. A dark shape approached him. "Cindy? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine Joshua." Giggled Cindy.

Joshua tensed. There was something wrong. He could feel it. He could smell it.

Cindy appeared before him. Her face was a hideous mask. Joshua stumbled back.

"What happened to you, Cindy?"

Cindy widened her mouth to reveal her fangs glinting in the feeble light. Then with a growl she launched herself towards Joshua's neck.


	7. White Heat

CHAPTER 7 - WHITE HEAT

Spike woke alone in a dark and dingy metal cage. His clothes were ripped and stained with blood and he was exhausted from the brutal treatment he had received from his captors.

Around him were other metal cages with occupants lying on the floor. Some of the cages were occupied by humans, but other cages were occupied by what he could only describe as humanoids. They were all shapes and colours. Some were furry, some had scaly skin, some had fangs and some had claws.

When Spike first arrived two days before, he thought he was back in the initiative. And to an uneducated person they may have looked like demons. But Spike knew his demons, and not one resembled any of the many races of demon that Spike had ever encountered. And they did not smell like demons. They all smelled vaguely human. No, they were not demons. They were some kind of mutants.

Suddenly, Spike was dragged from his cage by four armed guards. He was briskly man-handled down a corridor and taken into an interview room furnished only with a table and two chairs. The guards dumped him in one of the chairs and left him alone with agent White, a serious looking man in his twenties dressed in a suit.

Agent White stood in front of the table inspecting Spike. The he began to speak as if he was a professor in a lecture room.

"A few years ago some scientists came up with the bright idea of producing some genetically modified humans called transgenics to be used in military operations. In order to carry out their task they built an installation called Manticorp where these mutants would be produced, brought up and trained. They were supposed to be completely obedient. But something went wrong and a group of human transgenic children escaped. Last year, one of the escaped transgenics returned to Manticorp and destroyed it, setting free all these freaks that we see around us. Some look human, Some don't. But they are all dangerous and need to be exterminated."

White looked at Spike. Spike started to laugh. He thought about his fight with Max and Alec and realised they must be transgenics. The girl was not a Slayer after all.

White approached and put his hands on the table in front of Spike.

"But you are not one of them. Are you?"

"I'm just a normal run of the mill guy, mate." Replied Spike smiling up at White. "I like my fags, my football and a night out with the ladies. Me. I'm just your mister average."

White ignored the answer to his rhetorical question and continued.

"You have no barcode. There is no record of you in our files from Manticorp. In our experiments, you were shot through the head, your throat was cut and you were given several mortal injuries that would normally have killed a transgenic, as strong as they are. What does that make you?"

"Very lucky?" Answered Spike, lifting his eyebrows and smiling.

"Not so." Replied White. "You are a vampire."

"Oh, come on." Blustered spike. "You can't believe that. Vampires don't exist."

"Oh, but they do." Replied White coldly. Spike was disconcerted by the total lack of surprise in White's voice. White pushed a folder lying on the desk across to Spike and continued talking.

"This is an extract from a file belonging to an organisation called The Initiative from twenty years ago. It was stolen by a female agent called Sydney Bristow from SD6." White smiled. " Apparently, with your help."

Spike groaned. He never imagined that actions from twenty years ago could affect him so profoundly now. But spike was curious to see what they had on him. So he opened the folder. The fist picture was a mug shot of himself taken in the Initiative. Spike smiled and nodded as he admired himself. He flipped over a few photos and came across a picture of Buffy. He sighed with nostalgic sadness as he remembered fondly the best days of his long human or vampire life. He flipped over the next photo and was confronted by a picture of a smiling Willow.

His blood froze. He had forgotten how much danger he was in. He realised he had to get away quickly.

"The Initiative was involved in researching demon technology." White continued. "We now know that some of the techniques were also used in Manticorp. This file contains a profile of you going back over one hundred years. You are definitely a vampire, Spike. Or should I call you William the Bloody. Or perhaps even hostile 17."

Spike gulped. Then nervously he said;

"Then you will know I was a good vampire. I helped save some of the people in the Initiative."

"In fact, you are a particularly nasty vampire." Replied White. "You are no better than these freaks from Manticorp."

"So you are not one of these…what did you call them? Transgenics?" Asked Spike, suddenly very interested in the response.

"I could not be more different from that filth." Replied White disgusted.

Spike smiled. White was no transgenic. He was a normal human and no match for Spike. This was his chance to escape. He stood up and addressed White.

"You know, it's been really interesting knowing you. But I really must be going."

White coolly stood back from the table as Spike advanced towards him menacingly.

"But after all I've been through, I'm feeling a bit peckish." Continued Spike. "And you will make the perfect snack."

With that he changed into his vamp face and launched himself at White.

But Spike did not even manage to touch White. The agent nimbly skipped to one side and Spike found himself grasping at fresh air. Before Spike could ponder what was happening, White punched Spike hard in the spine with a superhuman blow. Spike collapsed to his knees in pain, just before White mashed him across the head. As Spike knelt there dazed, White grabbed him round the neck with his right arm.

"I am not a transgenic. I am far superior to that." Said White coldly. "Unlike that scum, my genetic superiority did not need to be manufactured. I was born this way. You know, I could rip off your head right now. I believe decapitation is mortal to vampires."

White gripped Spike's head tighter and Spike realised he was not over exaggerating.

"But, I don't need to kill you personally." Continued White. "That would be too awkward. I will use more official means."

White released his grip and smashed Spike in the face again, and then dragged him over to the table and planted Spike firmly in the chair. Then he called for the guards and four of them entered.

"This one is for termination." He told them. "I think its time to see what resistance this one has to fire."

Spike realised he had to act fast if he wanted to survive.

"Wait!" He said desperately. "You are hunting these transgenics. I fought two of them before you caught me. I kicked their arses, but they escaped. I could help you track them down."

White lifted his hands to stop the guards.

"How would you manage that?" He asked.

"We can smell blood." Replied Spike. "If you let me feed on one of the captured ones here, I will be able to sniff out any nearby, what do you call them, transgenics." Spike smiled as he could see he was getting through to White.

"I could be your blood hound if you set me free. Do we have a deal?"

White pondered this a moment, and then nodded coldly. Spike was impressed by his own genius. Not only would be get a hearty meal, but he would also have an opportunity to escape once he was let loose on the streets.

Moments later, a dishevelled and battered looking young man was brought into the room and was left kneeling on the floor. His feet and hands were bound so he could not struggle. Spike walked up behind him. He changed into his vamp face and went down on his knees. With a growl, he sank his fangs into the man's neck.

As Spike fed on the blood, the man tried to struggle in vain.

"I'm going to kill you!" He screamed as Spike fed. "You are a dead man!" Even as the man weakened, he still tried to struggle and shouted a constant stream of obscenities directed at Spike.

Then just as the man's heart was about to stop beating, White signalled to the guards. They rushed forward and dragged Spike away, stunning him with electrical rods. Then Spike looked on helpless and horrified as one of the guards went over to the transgenic and forced him to drink a red liquid out of a test tube. In horror, Spike realised it must be a sample of his own blood they had collected during their earlier experiments.

If there was one rule that a vampire must obey if he wanted to survive, it was never to sire someone who threatened to kill you in their last moments. That would only result in a vengeful vampire whose first desire would be to kill his sire.

"Lock him up!" Commanded White, motioning to Spike.

"I thought we had a deal." Whined Spike helplessly as the guard bound him.

"You didn't really think I'd trust you, Spike." Replied white. "Remember, I have read your file. And now that we have our own vampire, we no longer require your services."

Then White smiled maliciously.

"But, I will keep my side of the bargain. Tomorrow we will let you go free at noon when the sun is at its strongest. I understand it is a spectacular sight to see a vampire disintegrate in sunlight. "

As the guards dragged Spike from the room and down the corridor, Spike realised he had to get out of Seattle as soon as possible. Far from being a city full of ready meals with two legs, it was awash with mutants and super humans who were all capable of dusting him without breaking sweat. And also, with all that was going on, it was only a matter of time before Willow found out where he was and came after him. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about her. For he was more terrified of her more than any mutant or demon. Yup, he had to leave Seattle, and pronto.

The guards dumped him back in his cell. But as he lay there he felt a pang of hope. He had fed well and was stronger. And he knew Davis and the other vamps would try to rescue him. One anomaly of a Dead Zone was that it actually increased a vampire's psychic link with other related vampires. In Sunnydale, these were almost drowned out by the other psychic "noise" from the Hell Mouth. But here there was no interference and he could sense them strongly.

He reached out with his mind and could feel the presence of the Davis and the other vamps. They were close and looking for him. And he could feel the presence of Cindy. She was now fully vamped and was waiting for him. He knew he had a chance as long as he stayed alive a little longer.

A few hours later, four guards approached the cage and dragged him out.

"This is it." Spike thought to himself. The guards led him down a corridor, eventually stopping at a metal door. They opened the door and pushed him into outside into the bright light.

Spike looked up at the brightness of the moon in the night sky and smiled. The guards removed their helmets, and Spike sighed with relief as he recognised Davis.

"We have prepared a car near the outskirts of the city." Said Davis hastily. "We can leave tonight."

Spike shook his head. "We're not leaving yet." He said . "I need to find a friend first".

"But the cops will be looking for us." Replied Davis, disconcerted. "We must leave now if we want to escape."

Spike knew he was right, but was determined to find Cindy first.

"Ok. But there's somewhere we have to go first." Said spike, smiling. He knew exactly where to find her.


End file.
